Who's behind the Safe School videos? The concerned mums' political connections

By Farrah Tomazin and Henrietta Cook

Updated12 August 2017 — 6:38pmfirst published at 4:00pm

Marijke Rancie peers intently into the camera and calls on Victorian parents to "get really angry".

Her outrage is directed at Safe Schools, a program the Melbourne mother claims is trying to "erase gender", expose children to dildos in the classroom, and teach them how to masturbate using household items.

"I kid you not, the rumours about this program are 100 per cent true – this program sexualises children!" Rancie declares, in a 14-minute video that has so far been viewed online more than 4 million times.

"Safe Schools is teaching your children anal sex and anal sex positions. It's teaching them STIs like it's no big deal. The concept is hyper, hyper-sexual. I'm not OK with that. This is grooming."

Advertisement

Anti-Safe Schools campaigner and Liberal member Marijke Rancie.

Rancie's claims have been disputed by the Victorian Education Department but if clicks are anything to go by, there's no doubt her video has struck a chord since it was uploaded on her Facebook page "Politicalpostingmamma", and later on an anti-Safe Schools website called You're Teaching Our Children What.

But why does this supposedly parent-driven website have the same server and registrar as the Australian Christian Lobby? Why has there been a sudden resurgence in campaigning activity against Safe Schools in recent months: from travelling roadshows and viral posts, to angry letters to principals and politicians?

And should Rancie have disclosed on the video that she's a Liberal Party member, part of growing network of so-called "mumma warriors" who are waging what critics claim is essentially a right-wing political war dressed up as a "grassroots" movement?

In the corridors of power at Spring Street, in the suburban branches of Liberal heartland, and in the meeting rooms of the party's Exhibition Street headquarters, a stoush over the party's internal culture has been brewing for months.

At its centre is Marcus Bastiaan, the charismatic 27-year-old who has made it his mission to re-energise the Liberals' conservative base through a membership drive targeting everyone from Mormons and Evangelical Christians to Probus and ethnic community groups. Safe Schools, according to one Bastiaan ally, has been "a good recruitment tool".

Marcus Bastiaan has made it his mission to re-energise the Liberals' conservative base.Credit:video still supplied

Rancie, a born again Mormon, signed up to the party 17 months ago, one of many recent converts to the Liberal cause. Joining her on the new frontline are several others with links to the party or the religious right. This includes teacher Moira Deeming, a former Liberal candidate; former councillor Christine Stow, who recently ran a Safe Schools "information session"; and Melbourne mother Cella White, whose story about pulling her son out of Frankston High School in protest of Safe Schools has been heavily promoted by the ACL.

Another Liberal member, Vikki Fitzgerald, was also behind a leaflet distributed in Education Minister James Merlino's electorate in May, purporting to be from a group of concerned constituents, going by the name of the Parents Speaking Out Group.

Facebook posts show a number of the women campaigning in Melbourne's east for federal MP Michael Sukkar, a staunch conservative who recently headlined an anti-Safe Schools forum for the Chinese community at the Liberal Party's head office.

The event, also attended by state president Michael Kroger, was advertised in Chinese media groups, and included a flyer falsely claiming that Safe Schools "educates children by teaching them to act like homosexuals and bisexuals, so that they will conform to new age ideas of gender".

This session was just one of many. Another recently took place at the Cranbourne Golf Club, featuring right-wing upper house MP Inga Peulich as a key speaker. A similar forum was held in late June at the Bendigo Baptist Church, attended by Bastiaan, his pro-life wife Stephanie, and conservative physician Ivan Stratov.

Stratov used his keynote speech to lash Safe Schools, as well as abortion, euthanasia, and marriage equality. The Bastiaans used the event to garner support for the party more broadly.

In a statement to Fairfax Media, Rancie says she had never been interested in joining a political party "until Safe Schools invaded my kids", and that she posted her video "out of sheer frustration" because no one seemed to know what it was really about.

"[It's] a Trojan horse for transgender activism and gender theory and not really an anti-bullying program at all," she says. "The feedback has been incredibly supportive, apart from a few activists who are childless and seem to have a clear agenda."

But others say the latest campaign isn't just politically motivated and filled with homophobic falsehoods, it's also doing "untold damage" to LGBTI children and their families, already reeling from the federal debate over marriage equality.

"We are really hurting," said Jo Hirst, the mother of a transgender child and the author of the children's book The Gender Fairy.

"The voices of these groups are loud and insistent, but what they say is factually incorrect. I understand that the parents of Australia have a lot of voting power. But when you know 50 per cent of transgender children will attempt suicide if not supported, can you ethically justify spreading misinformation? Is a vote worth a child's life?"

Jo Hirst launches her book Credit:Eddie Jim

Meanwhile, schools have also found themselves in the firing line. Frankston High School principal John Albiston receives a steady stream of emails from people opposed to the program, including members of the Australian Christian Lobby and Rise Up Australia.

The emails started when Cella White withdrew her 14-year-old son from Frankston High last year and publicly claimed that a teacher had told him that he could wear a dress to school.

Mr Albiston denies this. He says that if he had overhauled the school's uniform policy he would have received complaints from other parents.

"We were under attack," he explains. The school's phone lines were inundated with angry callers – none of whom had a connection to the school. "It seems to be more of an adult issue. It's not an issue for kids."

Cella White, backed by Christian Lobby, has been an outspoken critic of Safe Schools.

Back at the Liberal Party, the battle continues. As one insider explained this week, Safe Schools has become a powerful drawcard in an increasingly fickle political climate, where people are more likely to join parties on a single issue rather than on brand loyalty.

But while the program may be bringing new members, it is also causing some internal rifts. Twelve months after Guy announced he would replace Safe Schools with a "genuine anti-bullying alternative", some Liberals are angered there has been no policy work done. Others accuse him of being soft on these issues.

The matter has become such a sensitive topic within sections of the party that a new Liberal Pride group – headed by federal Minister Christopher Pyne's adviser, Rory Grant – recently met with state education spokesman Nick Wakeling to raise concerns about the lack of policy direction. As one well-placed source told Fairfax Media after the meeting: "The last thing we want to see is LGBTI students being placed at risk."

As for Rancie and her "mumma warriors", they're not going anywhere. Deeming says LGBTQI students had been "betrayed" by the makers of Safe Schools, "who have clearly used it as a ruse to sneak erotic sexualised content that has nothing to do with bullying into the classroom."

Rancie agrees. "The deception from the department of education is completely despicable," she says, "and I look forward to exposing them more."

True or False?

Department: Safe Schools is not a sex education program, nor does it teach sexual practices.

Marijke: "The safe schools program teaches children that there are 63 types of genders."

Department: The Safe Schools program does not teach this.

Marijke: "Is not and never was an anti-bullying program."

Department: It is a sad reality that LGBTI young people are more likely to be bullied at school than elsewhere and this has a major impact on their educational outcomes. Safe Schools provides information and resources to schools to raise understanding and awareness of sexual and gender diversity.

Marijke: "His friends in year 8 had come out and told him that a teacher had shown him a dildo."

Department: The Department of Education and Training provides evidence-based information, written resources and professional learning for school staff to use as they see fit to support schools to prevent, and respond to, discrimination against LGBTI students. These resources do not include props.